Why

For decades, huge resources have been invested in large-scale initiatives aimed at improving schools in The United States. Unfortunately, most efforts get mired in politics or fall down in implementation, failing to achieve the desired impact for our kids. Meanwhile, new school models, interventions and technologies emerge that produce promising results at a small scale but ultimately fail to spread.

This seems to happen over and over. Yet we continue to look for the next new policy or model and then approach change in the system the exact same way, from the top down, starting with predetermined solutions and strategies, implemented in schools through compliance. Fremont Street believes these efforts fail to achieve broad impact because they fail to address the needs and motivations of local stakeholders, especially students, educators, and parents.

At Fremont Street we believe that reimagining the traditional school model -- how schools are structured, leverage resources and approach the student learning experience -- represents the greatest opportunity to better meet the needs of students and prepare them for today's world. We also believe that it's possible and essential to simultaneously improve the jobs and lives of educators. In order to catalyze innovation effectively to achieve these goals at broad scale, we must shift how we approach change in education.